Avalon History Center’s Archives Go Digital

Posted November 15th 2021

The Avalon History Center’s collection of local newspapers spanning 1890 to 2019 are now available to read online.

Avalon History Center has been preserving some of its more fragile artifacts, like old maps and newspapers, by digitizing them. While staff members are careful when they handle these fragile documents, some damage just can’t be helped; hence the use of the digital files rather than pulling the original documents out of storage.

“Museums still need traditional climate-controlled storage to preserve physical objects, but digital storage provides us with new opportunities for research and community engagement,” said Jonathan Gibson, the center’s digital collections coordinator. “The greatest benefit of our digitization project is that it allows us to make historic materials available online for other people to explore and enjoy.”

Given the technological abilities of the world around us, the Avalon History Center has been able to use these digital files to help visitors learn the rich history of the island even though they might not be able to visit the history center in person. Whether you’re down the street or across the country, you can learn more about your favorite little beach town right from your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

The history center currently has six publications available for reading online, such as Avalon Herald, The Round Table of Avalon, and the Avalon Beach Patrol yearbooks. To view these publications and more, visit avalon.advantage-preservation.com. Go to avalonhistorycenter.org for more information about the Avalon History Center.